Great performances by Heath Ledger and, a surprising turn by Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Ledger's performance has been longly anticipated in many forums, and you won't be disappointed. Richly deserves the Oscar in my humble opinion. He not only takes this role and makes it his own, he loses himself in it, bringing to it a level chaos and monstrosity that knows no bounds. Oldman, Caine, and Freeman are back in their comfortable roles and are quite capable here, and Gyllenhaal fits in as a replacement for Rachel, although her role seems quite like a placeholder here. A much DARKER film than your typical superhero movie, but, it serves the film well, and you walk away with a general sense that this was not your typical good superhero movie, but just a great movie in general! Definitely a must see if you can beat the crowds.....